Thoughts about the A-League and its adventures in the quest for sustainability.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Brisbane 4 v Perth 0 Wowzers

The game was over by half time. And all Ferguson had to do then was protect his career. Before the game he had said the pressure was all on Brisbane. That did not ring true. The week before he had admitted his job was on the line, and 8-0 would have done that.

The combination of half time changes in Andrezinho and Steve McGarry plus Brisbane switching down a gear in the humidity saved coach Ferguson's career. Pity Andrezinho he has come here to dive in the box, Matt Smith got a yellow card for telling him so. Steve McGarry took control of Perth and sometimes the game. The best for Perth was their fan base who were well behaved (and over zealously were told to be so by security) and vocal throughout.

The first photo was taken in the 2nd half after I had gone up top with the Roar running away from my favoured end. It shows how static Perth are with a flat back 4 and diamond in front, broken only by Andrezinho in the far top. Contrast this to Brisbane who are spread and mobile. Left back Steffanotto is almost as advanced as the Berisha and so wide that he is actually off the pitch. Franjic is as high and wide on the other side. When a team is some goals up, this type of move limits the other team's risk taking. Brisbane's back 3 is spread and yet it is clear that the Perth diamond can be covered if needed.

I scored Bahraini Mo Adnan man of the match for his first half performance. Perth relied on the long ball game to hit on the counter and his tackling was well executed and coverage fantastic. Mo obviously likes the humidity, while Broich was brilliant in the first half and set up most of the goals, in the second half he wanted to be everywhere but his body couldn't get him there. Adnan made Smeltz look like he was just jogging round the park rather than a rival for Besart Berisha's shot at golden boot. Adnan covers everything in the air as well was demonstrated skills with his feet. The nerves of last week's first half were gone. Even in this week's second half he showed his leadership skills, talking to each players before the re-start and acting as a second playmaker to Broich much of the time.

Ange has given the instructions on dealing with 'parking of the bus.' That is: cross field switching, and rapid movement in the final third with lots of running off the ball as decoys and targets. And go forward, attack.

I would like to see Jack Hingert get more than 18 minutes. Ivan Franjic was not bombing forward as freely by the second half and I think Jack is highly motivated. Luke Brattan has more to do to cement his spot once Mitch, Matt Jurman and Kofi return from the Olyroos.

And the talking point, apart from the record and the fireworks, was that the ref missed a penalty in the first few minutes. We were behind it and it looked goal bound and deliberate.

Crowd of nearly 20,000 kept low by lots of rain building up through the day and starting just before the game.

Oh and can some get Optus to fix their 'live scores' and stats. This 'match centre' thing doesn't work that well.

Each week you can vote for Brisbane's top 3 players here (at the bottom of the page).

Adnan was 100% better than the previous week. Great first half by Issey and Henrique.

I really like Hingert but still not sure on Brattan. He's solid enough but I think Meyer offers more at this stage.

The unanswered question for me is who will fill in for Eric if he's ever not there? Perhaps Matt Smith with Adnan and Jurman at the back? Not sure why Ange has never given anyone else a run in that role even when we are 7-1, 4-0 etc up. Similarly why does he never give Broich an early mark when the result is assured - he was out on his feet against Perth, the most likely time to pick up an injury.